


Drake

by QuillWrighter



Category: ROTTMNT - Fandom, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), TMNT - Fandom
Genre: AU, Aftermath of Torture, Experimentation, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillWrighter/pseuds/QuillWrighter
Summary: Change is often sudden, so quick that you are helpless to prevent it.Donnie didn’t know how it happened one second he was digging through trash for metal and electronics and the next he was fighting for his life.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

Change is often sudden, so quick that you are helpless to prevent it.

Donnie didn’t know how it happened one second he was digging through trash for metal and electronics and the next he was fighting for his life. His muscles ached as they strained to keep the ninja surrounding him away. His weapon lay long forgotten somewhere having been knocked from his grip what felt like hours ago. Bodies of the Foot ninja littered the battle field but for each ninja he took out it seemed as if ten took their place.

He jumped to the side avoiding a blow to the face from a baton in the hopes of giving himself some breathing room only to see stars at a crack of bat against his skull. Stumbling over forgotten papers and food scrap he made to kick the one that had hit him only to have his leg grabbed. For a heart wrenching second his feet left the ground and he went flying.

What felt like hours lasted only seconds as he collided with another body, the dull thunk of a fist colliding with his plastron stealing away what little breath he had left. Gasping for precious air, vision blurred he blindly reached for the ninja and swiftly tossed him adding two more bodies to the battle field. Towers of garbage keeping him from retreating.

Twenty more ninja appeared from seemingly nowhere. The purple clad turtle shook where he stood. Something wet tricked from his mouth as he swayed where he stood desperately trying to catch his breath. Biting back the taste of copper he ducked a fist only to have another grip his arm. Everything around him blurred as he was spun. A scream ripped itself from his mouth as pain shot up his arm to his chest accompanied by a sickening crunch.

Suddenly what little air he managed to get into his lungs was forced out as his chest collided with the ground. All at once they were on top of him, hands and knees digging into his skin holding him down. His injured arm wrenched back at an odd angle keeping him from struggling. Red eyes closed tight; all he could hear was the feet of the black clad ninja all around him. The taste of copper on his tongue made him want to gag but he didn’t have the energy. 

The feeling of blood slowly dripping down his face and arms from scrapes. Glancing to the side where his non broken arm was. His heart dropped seeing the device on his arm broken beyond repair. His head fell into the rough dirt and grime of the dump’s ground trying desperately to simply breath but the weight on his back made it a struggle. He felt as if he was drowning, his vision swam as wave after wave of pain ran though his arm to his chest. He was just…so tired…

Through the ringing in his ears a slow clap and footsteps growing closer caught his attention but it was the loud crunch that made his head turn. He lifted his head to look, his entire body shaking from the effort. As his fuzzy vision raised, he dully noted his goggles lying broken under a black shoe. A man dressed in a long white lab coat stood before him, a cruel smirk on his face as he stared him down.

“I must say I am impressed!” The strange man motioned around them to the many bodies of ninja littered around the makeshift battle field.  
“I had heard that your kind were warriors but this is more than I was expecting.” The man spun on his heal walking a few feet where Don noted he picked up his Bow staff.

“You are probably wondering, why you? Well you were not my first choice,” The man turned back to the purple clad turtle his smirk turning to something softer. “no I originally wanted the big one. But, then I hear about you. The smartest of your kind. Well I was intrigued and you did not disappoint!” With a press Don watched as his bo shrunk down and was pocketed. The man stepped closer forcing him to strain just to keep watch of him. His vision growing darker and darker as his lungs refused to take in air.

“After all you took out almost half of the ninja I brought before you even lost your weapon simply by being clever.” The man stared down at him almost gleefully. With a snap of his fingers Don found himself lifted to standing. The pain in his arm and the sudden movement made bile rise in his throat. He couldn’t see, barely clinging to conscious. He felt a hand lift his lulling head and the man’s voice sounding as if from a mile away.

“It is truly a pity that mind of yours will be wasted” The man pulled away, Donatellos’ head dropped, no longer having the energy to keep it lifted. A cruel smile and a white coat were the last he saw as black took over his vision and he fell into the sweet call of oblivion.

“Bishop” The man in the white coat didn’t even turn as a man in armor walked up to him. Simply content to watch the ninja load the downed warrior into the back of a black semi-truck.

“Ah Mr. Oroku Saki, I was beginning to wonder when you would show up.” The black-haired man took a small bit of pleasure seeing the other man’s slight scowl at his name.

“How long will it take you to break the turtle.”

Bishop readjusted his glasses and turned to the other. “Ah straight to business then. It should take at least six months before I am finished.” An armored hand snatched his tie and yanking him nearly off his feet to look at the taller man in the eye.

“I will give you one month no more.” The armor-clad man sneered. Bishop calmly pushed away the other man’s hand and readjusted his black tie.  
“You are hardly in any position to negotiate our little deal.” Right on cue hundreds of bright red dots lit up silver armor. 

A smile that promised death stretched across Bishop’s face. “I get to study a creature that had escaped my notice and you, get to keep your life. You getting a weapon out of this is merely a bonus.” The man in armor grit his teeth but didn’t say a word.

“I will keep that creature for however long I please.” 

“Fine.” Oroku Saki ground out. The shorter man smirked and with a snap the lights vanished. He didn’t miss the way the other man’s eyes narrowed behind the helmet. Movement caught his eye alerting him the the downed ninja being swiftly removed by other ninja. He idly wondered for a moment what kind of punishment the ones that failed would face at the hands of the renowned Shredder. A low rumbling that grew closer alerted him to his ride arriving. He brushed off the thought, what the Shredder did to his ninja was none of his concern.

“If we are quite done here, I have work to do.” Without another word he slipped into the unobtrusive black car. The door pulled shut with a click. The engine roared to life, he watched as the man in armor grew farther away. Bishop spotted the black truck out the window and is grin widened. This was promising to be quite, enlightening.


	2. Experiments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change is often sudden, so quick that you are helpless to prevent it.  
> Donnie didn’t know how it happened one second he was digging through trash for metal and electronics and the next he was fighting for his life.

Pain, darkness, and white are all he knows. Curled in a corner of this very dark, very little room he counted the hard stitching on his chest. 1…3…10… How long had he been here? It was hard to tell through the pain and darkness. 20…34…39… He recalled coming in here with a broken arm and it was long since healed. With no infection it had to have been at least 4 months, after all reptile bones take longer to heal. 52…66…71…It was hard to remember through all the pain even now every little movement sent fire through his veins. But, he had gotten used to that. 121…138…157…

How long ago was it that they moved him to this room with nothing? It was at least after his fifth near escape using the light bulbs and plastic cover. 183…189…212. A woosh and light assaulted his senses, interrupting his counting. Hands gently grabbed his arms and hoisted him up and onto a cart. His arms and legs swiftly bound. He had long stopped caring what the humans looked like all he saw were the white coats anymore.

They pushed him down the hall bright white lights passed over head. He remembered talking, fighting against the scientists. Their hands used to leave bruises on his arms and he would leave them with scars. It wasn’t worth what little energy he had left anymore. The sound of the wheels and footsteps were like thunder in the silence of the facility. It had been so long since the sound of laughter and yelling were common. Was his family even looking for him? Surly they must be. But, it had to have been several months possibly even a year right?  
Did they even know he was still alive?

Another woosh of a door and he was pushed into a cell with a bright red light. The surgery room. He never did understand why the red light.  
“Thank you, please wait outside while I conduct the experiment.” More foot steps and the sound of the door closing followed by a cart rolling up to his right side. A white coat entered his vision a brown clip board covering the humans’ face.

“Hmmm, still not eating I see. Understandable reptiles tend to go off feed during winter.”

Winter was it? He remembered being brought in late spring. He hadn’t eaten anything since he had arrived besides what they had forced down his throat, and even then, he threw it up more times than he kept it down. How much weight had he lost since he came here?

“Well.” The click of the plastic board pounded in his ears when set down.

“I have something new for you. You see we recently received a little mosquito filled with a strange liquid.” The scrape of a blade being lifted off the tray. “Tests on mice and rats proved that it caused drastic mutations in living matter. We have broken it down to its base components. Added in DNA samples. I want to see how far I can take this.” 

He closed his eyes and shuttered at the feeling of a pen making marks where his jaw met his skull.

“The rats and mice proved to be too fragile, none of them made it. You however, are much stronger.” The cold blade pressed against his skin. “So, let’s try something new.”  
Pain erupted across his jaw as the cold steel dug in, each millimeter pure agony. He wanted to scream but couldn’t find his voice. The white coat kept him from jerking his head away. Why couldn’t they put him under for this agony? Why were they so unwilling to put him under or give him pain killers among all the other things they had subjected him to?

He didn’t know how long he lay there under the mercy of the white coat’s blade only that it was too long, far too long. His vision blurred weather from the pain or tears he did not know only that at each slice of the knife shot lightning down his body. 

Finally, the steel made its last cut. He wanted to throw up but there was nothing left he tilted his head as far as he could toward the man in white. His head felt wrong, it was far, far too light. A strangled gurgle erupted from his throat. All he could see was blood, his jaw held away from his body, and white. Darkness crept across his vision and he welcomed its protective embrace.

He was starting to forget, he could hardly remember what the sun, the trees, the sky looked like. They were little more than just blurs of washed out color in his mind. He didn’t want to forget. If he forgot he would lose everything. His family? He couldn’t remember their faces. Sharp claws dug into his skull as if he could physically hold what was left of his mind in, but it was just so… hard. He clung to what little he remembered. 

Orange a happy smile and a helping hand, Red with strong hugs and protective presence, blue with a cool confidence, yellow always running into trouble, pink a comfort a warrior, brown a caretaker a teacher. They all danced just out of reach. 

He couldn’t forget. Don’t forget.

DoN’t forGet.

dOn’T FOrgEt.

DoN’t FoRGeT!

It was dark, darkness was safety, darkness protected. But even it could not chase away the light. It always came and the dark hid from it. Many times, he wished he could follow to hide away in its embrace until the light went away. The light brought with it White Coat and the monster brought pain.

A woosh startled him, and he tried to tuck as far into the corner as he could to hide from the inevitable light. Only, it never came. Darkness ruled and spread. There was an opening in the wall. Dull red eyes peaked over his tail expecting something to come though the opening, to drag him out and hurt. Nothing did. Slowly ever so slowly he dragged his body toward the opening. One paw in front of the other. Nothing happened.

For the first time since he could remember he stepped out of the too small cage by his own choice. He only remembered darkness, these walls, and white. His body tight as a spring he inched down the empty corridor. A bang and he was running. He had not heard a sound like that before, loud and sharp. Long limbs tripped over one another not used to moving so freely, so quick. 

BANG! BANG! BANG! The noises kept repeating behind him spurring him on ever quicker. Risking a glance behind he watched a piece of the ceiling slam down to the ground. BANG! The hall was collapsing! A woosh in front of him and light forced the darkness away. For the first time, he vaulted himself into the blinding white.

Rather than hard stone his paws were met with something that shifted beneath his claws. His paws slid out from under him and he fell head over tail. His spine collided with a wall but it was rough and moved slightly, it was unlike anything he had ever felt. Taking in labored breaths he found himself assaulted with smells he had never smelled. Something soft tickled his face and he reared back from it. Tail and limbs in a tangle all he did was stumble again.

Finally, his eyes adjusted to the blinding light and he was met with something he had never seen. Brown and green instead of white. No metal in sight. Towering walls of rough separated brown stood in light tan sprinkled with occasional tufts of green. This was new. This was all so new… and so very bright. 

All around there was new beauty, dusty dirt with patches of vibrant green. Towering wood walls only broken by the light grey of the cavern that he had just left. Blue stretched above as far as he could see. A bright yellow white light shown from above bathing his dull green scales with a welcoming warmth. The sun a voice in his head whispered. 

Standing up nervously he was prepared to jump at any notice but he wanted to explore this larger cage. His world had just gotten bigger after all. Hunched over and his tail between his legs he started smelling the tufts of green. Grass he decided. It smelled wonderful and so much less harsh than the chemicals that clung to him and the building.

A sound from above startled him and he immediately turned his vision upwards only to freeze at the sight. Standing upon the walls of wood was White Coat. Watching him with his clipboard in hand. It was a stare off where he dared not look away. The Human was the first to look away instead deciding to write something on the board in his hands.

The pain he was expecting never came. Instead Whitecoat seemed to be content with just watching from afar. It took a while for him to decide that for once Whitecoat was not going to harm him. He went back to exploring only now he kept an eye on every little move the human made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha Ha! Finally had internet to post this! Enjoy~


	3. Unreachable Freedom

It was dark, it was quiet, but he could hear, he could see outside this prison. He did not remember exactly when it happened but it was good. He now could tell when the humans came. Seeing without his eyes hearing better than ever before. Shapes of humans entered his vision, traversing the halls but leaving him be. He could hear them speaking about their days, their lives, their tests.  
He could hear them speaking of him. They called him Dragon, Drake. He wondered if that were his name, or what he was. But it didn’t matter, nothing mattered, not even pain. The white coats came and passed. Sometimes they would burst in and bring pain, sometimes they simply passed by. More humans were walking past, they seemed different, there was more on them. He groaned in pain as he lifted his new frill hoping to hear what these wanted.

“So when I open the door you shoot, we don’t want The Dragon getting his claws on us.”  
“We haven’t needed to do this before with it, what’s changed?” The larger of the two asked  
“Bishop says he’s gotten too big, too strong from actually eating and the time spent in the yard. He doesn’t want to take any chances.”  
More humans followed one he recognized as Whitecoat. He whimpered, his frill lowered and he curled as much as he could into the corner, the useless hope that they would not see him. The door slid open, there was a bang and a prick in his side. He shrieked as his vision blurred. He couldn’t move even as hands held his limbs neck and tail down.  
Whitecoat keeled down near his neck and he whimpered.  
“Now none of that, I’ve only got one little injection for you then we’re all done for a month.” The Dragon wanted to pull away to thrash, to do anything as Whitecoat pulled out a long syringe with a greenish blue glowing liquid but it was no use. He could do nothing but close his eyes and wait for it to be over. A prick in his neck and the thick liquid entered his system. The humans left, it was dark, and his and everything burned.

It was warm and it was bright. Dirt shifted under his body as he tested his new limbs. Hidden from Whitecoat’s view under a little wooden shelter he examined large wings that had grown upon his back. Whitecoat had not expected them to grow. These wings felt as natural as his tail and legs but it was still odd getting used to them upon his back. Since they had grown in, he had kept them plastered to his body whenever the humans were looking. It was something he could control. The humans believed his wings to be useless, unusable.   
He wanted them to keep thinking that. Even when they shot him and pulled at his wings, he had used every ounce of his strength to keep them closed. Whitecoat wanted to remove them, but he was waiting. Whitecoat had plans, plans of bringing someone new to see him. He did not like the sounds of that. He had seen others, some wanted to use him as a weapon to kill other creatures. Others wanted him dead. Some wanted both. Whitecoat would not let them though. It was the only kind thing his tormentor ever did.  
He lifted his wings and flapped them slightly. Dirt stirred around him. The wings were big, large enough that he had never opened them fully yet. A loud chirp from right above startled him, fin raised he poked his head outside his shelter and watched a little song bird flutter from one wall post to another.  
Golden red eyes watched it with envy. He wished he were able to follow it. Seeing no human watching him he slowly followed the bird as it fluttered about from post to post. He followed it to a corner until it vanished over the wall. They always disappeared where he could not follow.  
A skittering noise made him jump a little. Turning to it instantly to have a visual he noticed a little brown nose poking out of a hole in the wood wall. Dragon slowly grew closer and the nose vanished. He looked through the now empty hole and his entire body sagged.  
Green, everything was green. Golden light dancing through vibrant green leaves and wooden trunks. Birds and small creatures freely traveled where they wanted, no walls to keep them there.

He tore himself away from the window beyond the walls. Head and tail low, he returned to his little shelter.   
It was warm, it was bright, and he was trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort one I know but this one gave me trouble. It's not what I wanted this chapter to be but I don't want to fight with it any longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the first Chapter! Stars above the beginnings are hard. I intend to have at least one picture per chapter as it's fun. If you want to see more drawings and some of the basic things about the characters in this au then you should go check out my Tumblr here ~ https://turtledragons.tumblr.com/


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